Mikaela Shiffrin, the U.S. skiing star who’s also her sport’s most decorated athlete of all time, broke her medals drought at the 2026 Olympics on Wednesday, taking home the gold in the women’s slalom.
The 30-year-old appeared stunned and visibly emotional over her triumph after completing a smooth second run in the slalom, which is her best event. She finished with a combined time of 1:39.10, beating Switzerland’s Camille Rast, who held the second place position after two runs, by a substantial 1.5 seconds. Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden positioned herself in third place.
Shiffrin had sped to an early lead in the event, finishing her first slalom run with a time of 47.13 seconds and gaining an advantage over Rast, Larsson, Germany’s Lena Duerr and other competitors.
Before this latest competition, Shiffrin, the biggest winner in the history of the World Cup circuit and a multi-time Olympian, had failed to make the podium in eight straight Olympic events. The last time she took home a medal was during the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, when she won gold and silver.
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Shiffrin, a Colorado native, secured her first gold medal in the slalom event during the 2014 Games in Sochi. At just 18, it was also her Olympic debut.
Shiffrin’s medal drought had persisted this year even as she competed in the women’s giant slalom event on Sunday. Despite being a favorite to win, she finished the race in 11th place, with a series of clean runs that weren’t quite fast enough to make her a serious challenger for top spots.
Italy’s Frederica Brigone earned the gold in that event, marking her fifth overall medal and her second gold since the Milan Cortina Games began. Shiffrin praised her performance after Brigone crossed the finish line.
“That was, like, the greatest show of GS skiing that we’ve had in a really long time,” Shiffin said. “And to do it, you know, at the Olympics where people actually have eyes on the sport. Frederica skied incredible. That was so cool to watch.”
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Last week, Shiffrin finished in 15th place in the slalom portion of the women’s skiing team combined race. She and fellow U.S. skiing champion Breezy Johnson earned fourth place in the event overall.
In 2024, Shiffrin crashed after losing control while on the course for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Then last year, she said she was dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder from another crash, during which she suffered a puncture wound and severe trauma to her oblique muscles.